Honestly. When I took a leave of absence from Fordham University 3 years ago (my mom gets mad if I say I "dropped out") I never thought I'd see another back to school season again. No more homework, no more exams, no more professors, no more nuttin. And let me tell you that honestly, I was pretty stoked about it. However, I can't say that I was the kind of kid that ever truly hated school. Did I have some terrible teachers? Sure. But I also had some incredible ones. Did I slack off on homework and studying? Yeah, sometimes. But I also immersed myself entirely in some assignments or subjects I found myself invigorated by and passionate about. Did some of the subjects bore me to tears? Hell yeah. But some of them sparked this light inside me. Sometimes even if a class wasn't necessarily fascinating, the teacher was. For instance, sophomore year of high school I took a history class called Western Civilizations taught by Ms. Fernandez. She was young, 24 at the time I believe, energetic, passionate, silly yet serious and not to be taken advantage of, and just overall an awesome person. Everyone excelled in her class not because she was an easy teacher - she wasn't; she was a hard but fair grader with truly thought provoking assignments - but because she was so incredible as a teacher that no one wanted to let her down. So was Western Civilizations factually my most interesting class? Nope. But I remember it the most out of any course I've taken thanks to Ms. Fernandez. I really hope you all at some point in your school career have a teacher like her. Though, I do believe she is one of a kind.

That all being said, my point that I'm taking the scenic route to get to is (drum roll please) - I'm going back to school! Now, before you go "wait what about touring?!" let me explain. A lot of pre-existing universities have been launching online campuses: fully online undergraduate and graduate degree programs. I have applied and since been accepted to one of these online undergraduate programs starting this fall! I was really worried about being accepted, considering all they wanted was my first year college transcript - no SATs, no ACTs (which I did quite well on might I say), no high school transcripts, no recommendation letters, not even an essay to introduce myself! - but I am victorious. So since I know many of you are headed back to school or have already begun, I am officially with you my fellow students! Conquering the world of formal education once more whilst also conquering the actual world.

You may be wondering "Why on earth would you go back to school?! You were free!" and trust me I know I sound crazy; but I genuinely love learning. And yes I know you can learn without going to school, you can be educated without a degree, so on so forth. But a college degree is something that I have always wanted for myself, and I'm really excited for the opportunity to not only do what I love, but also pursue a goal I've had set for myself for quite some time. So wish me luck! I've been out of school for three years now so I'm a bit rusty but I'm get excited to get started. Good luck at school this fall!